Oil producers plan to keep lid on supply

OPEC and non-Opec Arab oil ministers stressed the need for continued co-operation between oil producers after their current pact to maintain a supply cut expires at the end of 2018, Kuwait's state news agency KUNA has reported.

OPEC and non-Opec Arab oil ministers stressed the need for continued co-operation between oil producers after their current pact to maintain a supply cut expires at the end of 2018, Kuwait's state news agency KUNA has reported.

The agreement has helped raise oil prices to above $80 (€69) a barrel and reduce a global oil supply glut.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), along with Russia and several other producers, agreed to cut output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), starting from January 2017. The curbs have driven down inventories and pushed up oil prices.

Opec ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Algeria, along with their counterpart from non-Opec Oman, gathered in Kuwait on Saturday for an unofficial meeting of a joint ministerial committee that monitors compliance with the agreement.

The ministers "stressed the need to maintain the existing co-operation and continue the successful endeavour carried out by the participating countries", according to a statement by the committee, known as the JMMC, published on KUNA.

"They called for sustaining the current partnership in order to continuously adapt to ongoing market dynamics in pursuit of the interests of consumers and producers whilst promoting healthy global economic growth."

The ministers also "emphasised the need for healthy market conditions that stimulate adequate investments in the energy sector, in order to ensure stable oil supplies are made available in a timely manner to meet growing demand and offset declines in some parts of the world," the statement added. (Reuters)